Wednesday, May 30, 2012

That little list I made last week got me moving. Over the long holiday weekend I got one small quilt finished and another one almost done.

I really do love the tumbler pattern... so much so that I've now made 3 tumbler quilts in the last year (2 from Sugar Pop) and have thoughts of another 1 or 2.

I'm not sure what I'll do with this quilt... it had a purpose when I started in back in October, but things changed. That's probably part of the reason why such a simple quilt hung around, waiting to be quilted, for so long. Megan kind of has her eye on this one too... after all it matches the tumbler quilt on her bed... but I think I might hang on to it until the next baby or charity event comes along.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Thursday night my buddy Safieh tagged me to play along with What I'm Doing Right Now #widrn on Instagram. I debated ignoring it until morning... when I was doing something fun (like an early-morning do-nut run!) But being a good sport I played along and posted this picture...

What was I doing at 11pm on a Thursday night? I was counting quilt tops that need to be quilted. That picture is just part of them! I found 16... yes, 16 quilts that need to be completed.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

May has been a CRAZY month!! Like I-haven't-even-switched-the-kitchen-calendar-from-April CRAZY... and at this point I'm just holding out for June next week.

The month started with the HMQG retreat to Smithville TX. It was great fun, and I got a lot accomplished.

Two weeks later I was supposed to take another trip out of town... but I cancelled the trip. And then there was the possibility that I would be making a cross-country drive that same week... but that got cancelled too. So with a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday completely free on my schedule I jokingly suggested to my hubby that we should see if we could get someone in to replace the floors in our house.

And wouldn't you know it... there was! So I've now spent the last 3 weeks packing up the house, having the carpet removed and wood floors put down, and reassembling the house. Boy am I tired!! We've lived in this house for 9 years and it is amazing what accumulates in bookcases, under beds, and on closet floors. But I have beautiful new floors and a HUGE pile of stuff to take to the charity resale shop this weekend.

Sewing room cleared out - just waiting for the workers to arrive.

First carpet gone!

Sofas in the kitchen for 3 days = lots of fast food.

Carpet gone, float drying... next new floors.

First room with floors done and furniture moved back in.

My living room 1 week ago... a holding area while floors go in the last 4 rooms.

We've not fully put everything back together yet... but the 3-day weekend should get us there!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

To enter, leave me a comment with which fabric from my shop you'd pick if you're the winner.
Entries will close 7pm (Central) Friday May 25th. I'll draw a winner and everything will be ready to mail out Monday.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Not because it was a particularly challenging pattern... I think I cut out the tumbler pieces in an afternoon of movie watching and pieced it together rather quickly.

Not because of the quilting... just straight lines done my my Janome 6600.
But because of this little girl...

As with so many of my quilts, I made this one just to make it. There wasn't a person or special occasion in mind. I liked the fabric, and after making a small tumbler quilt previously I wanted to try my hand at a bigger version. But as soon as Megan saw the finished quilt she asked if it was for her. And the only answer to that is OF COURSE! And so she has slept under it almost every night since it was finished. Warms a Mom's heart!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Last weekend the Houston Modern Quilt Guild held a retreat at Deep Woods Retreat Center near Smithville Texas. It was a fantastic weekend of good friends, good food, little sleep, and lots of sewing!

I headed up Friday morning with a couple of other gals and stopped at a few quilt shops along the way. Boy were there some hidden jems in these small-town shops! I found charm packs of Sultry, honey buns of Sweet, a bolt from Peas & Carrots, a bolt from Flea Market Fancy (original release), and a number of bolts from Katie Jump Rope... no ribbon flowers or blue or green basketweave... I don't know if my pocket book would have survived finding that!

In the end this is what I came home with... 4.5 yards of fabric, a honey bun, and a quilt kit

The space at Deep Woods was nice! They have room for 24 people, but we only came with 18 so there was a little extra room to spread out.

Mid-day Saturday a few people took time out from their projects to race... Jelly Roll style! We started with the Jelly Roll strips already sewn end-to-end and then raced to see who would be the first to complete their quilt top. Erin came in first place (with the Circa 1934 quilt) at 44 minutes.